1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electricity, conductors and insulators, and more specifically to sheaths, coverings, or housings for cable connections, especially to water resistant coverings for telephone cable connectors. The invention further relates to insulators for terminal covers.
2. Description of the Piror Art
Electrical connections are often located in areas where contamination by foreign matter such as dirt or moisture can cause failure. This is especially true in the case of telephone cable connectors used in commercial multi-line telephone installations, where the connector may be located away from a wall or other traditional fastening point elevated above floor level. Thus, normal cleaning activities subject the electrical connections to dirt and water.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,616 discloses a connector cover that resists entry of water and dirt and is capable of sealing with reasonable snugness around cables of a variety of diameters. However, connector covers having improved sealing ability or the ability to seal a greater range of cable diameters remain desirable. The present invention provides a number of improved features over the teachings of the above noted U.S. patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,499,102 discloses a cable connector cover that may be anchored to furniture without defacing the furniture. In this regard also, it remains desirable to mount such covers in more positive and wear resistant manner, but with provision that the cover is capable of being pulled free under strain on the cable. Further, as a matter of practical convenience to the telephone installer, it is desirable to eliminate the need for a variety of special purpose covers and to create a single cover having versatile mounting capability. In this way, the installer may be confident that the same cover can be used whether it is to be mounted on furniture, a wall, or an electrical outlet box.
A remaining problem in the design of cable connector covers is that a substantial variety of telephone hook-ups are now used, and an installer or serviceman may not know until arriving at a job site which type of equipment will be encountered. The older types of cable connectors are readily accommodated by the technology taught in the above-mentioned patents. Newer modular connectors employ a substantially different technology using small jacks and plugs. Where in the older art a large cable might enter a connecter and an equally large or smaller cable might exit the connector for attachment to a telephone or plurality of telephones, the newer art anticipates that the exiting cable be replaced by modular connection jacks, whereby no hard-wired cable will be required to exit the cover. It is therefore desired to accommodate the newest concepts in telephone technology in a single connector cover that is also able to accommodate the older technology.
These and other problems of the art are resolved as described in the following explanation.